The present invention relates to a glass melting furnace including a melting tank heated from above by burners and comprising a melting section as well as a refining and homogenizing section provided with electrodes for the supply of electrical energy; a dam which separates the melting section from the refining and homogenizing section and the upper edge of which is disposed below the surface of the (glass) melt bath; and an outlet for the glass disposed in the bottom portion of the refining and homogenizing section; wherein the bottom of the refining and homogenizing section is in a position deeper than the bottom of the melting section, and the electrodes are arranged in one or more planes (levels) of the refining section.
Glass melting furnaces of the above type have proved to be useful, because they are not only versatile in application, but are also capable of melting particularly high-quality glass. On the other hand, a drawback of glass melting furnaces of this type is that the dam separating the melting section and the refining or homogenizing section is relatively expensive in structure, because the bricks of this dam must be set deeply into the bottom of the melting tank.
Another drawback of conventional furnaces is that the electrodes installed into the walls are highly subject to corrosion. Further, it is difficult to sufficiently heat up the discharge stream or flow in the center part of the tank.